Here is a very very far fetched scenario..A professor and his University department and his entire staff works for 10 years using US taxpayer supplied grant money to do research into...lets say GeoSpatial Satellite sytems, its not directly military, no, there is nothing really secret about it, no sir..but it cost the US taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars. And lo and behold many of his research assistants..just so happen to be Chinese...in fact they were sent to the USA by the Chinese
Communist (there that word is again) Government to the USA precisely to take classes with this professor and to work ever so diligently, almost facelessly until they are in the good professors good graces, standing right at his elbow...taking notes so diligently on GeoSpatial Satellite
technology. Then..lets pretend that they finally graduate and well just seem to disappear. Some time passes and what do you know there is a
miraculously advanced Chinese space program underway. Gosh they are just
advancing leaps and bounds. Jim Rogers and his gang is right there applauding at the marvelous hi tech super power China is becoming and pours his Billions in encouraging others to do the same... the profits are fantastic. Then on page 137 of 2012 Janes Defense Intelligence Yearbook..there is a article on Chinas new GPS guided weapons systems including their nuclear missle guidance systems. It seems the USA is now involved in a new crushingly expensive arms race. But what does this have to do with the good ol'boy from Demopolis Alabama who is such a nice guy? And when in the far distant future..say 2016 some working class American kids who enlisted to escape the America Jim Rogers and gang plundered are
finally incinerated by a GPS guided cruise missle launced by terrorists using Chinese technology bought on the black market...again what does that have to do with good ol Jim?

I have read all of Jim Rogers books and this one was as much a pleasure to read as all others. Jim's easy to read writing as well as his desire to educate make this book, (especially if you are truly interested in the topic) a terrific read.

Since reading his previous book, "Hot Commodities" and knowing that he had moved his family to Asia, I was eager to hear his thoughts on the Chinese economy. It is because of Jim that I have encouraged my children to teach their children the Mandarin language. It was also great to see that there is now a vehicle to invest in a commodities index that Jim created. (The stock is RJA and is traded on the American Stock Exchange) I personally look forward to future writings by this unique individual.

I have read all your book. I have been followed most of jim roger's advice since last three years and made fortunes out of it. I invested heavily in oil drilling companies, refineries, oil explorers and infrastructure in starting of 2006 and I have amassed returns of around 800% on my capital investments. Following jim's advice that USD will drop against all currencies, I sold my Indian IT investments and shorted IT stocks around July 2007 when $ dropped against Indian rupee from 46 to 44. Right now it is 39 rupess against $ and I have made 200% returns by going short on Indian It stocks at right time. Then I took long positions in oil, gold around July 2007 and returns are everyones guess. On 7th Jan I hit biggest jackpot of my life, I shorted 20 lots Indian Nifty index at 6100, again following jim's advice that credit crunch will worsen in coming days and US economy will tumble. I sold my long positions on 21st January (when nifty reached 4300) with more than 1600% returns on my investment. Right now I am making investments in alternate energy and infrastructure companies in India by applying investment rules drafted by Warren Buffet. But A bull in china really helps me determine positions to take in indian market as India is running in parrallels to China.

Rogers has an ability to assimilate a vast amount of detailed information and reproduce it in a simplistic, systematic format. The book starts by giving a history of the Chinese stockmarket - only a couple of pages, of course. He then tackles each sector by providing a brief synopsis followed by names of prominant corporations in that sector. The sectors include defense, water, retail, technology, energy, transport, tourism, agriculture, health and health insurance, education and real estate. The book was entertaining, educational and profitable ( hopefully).

I want to start off by saying this was an extremely interesting book. I read it fast. This book is a no nonsense view of what is taking place in China as well as a kind of "how to guide" for investing there. It is very broad based and should be a part of everyone's library especially for anyone wondering how they can invest successfully in China this book gives quite a few answers to that question.

China is really the place to be in the future. Jim Rogers lays it out so anyone even with below average intelligence can understand the huge opportunities to invest there. Beside all the information about where China has come from and where they are headed that has been packed in this book is a number of lists of companies with their stock symbols and what markets they are traded in along with their three year trends of profit percentages and changes in revenue. Just the homework of that alone is well worth the price of the book if not much more!

This book explains so much on investing in Chinese companies that anyone should be able to find some good investment opportunities with the stocks listed. Jim Rogers is one of the greatest investors of the last 40 years and it seems like a good idea to me to just ride his coat tail so to speak. He puts his money where his mouth is unlike a lot of others who give advice.

A Bull In China gives a good overview of the following markets: Energy, Transportation, Tourism, Agriculture, Health, Education, Housing, Currency and more. As mentioned in the book about the reality that since 1985 the USA has become the largest debtor nation in the world and China has become the largest creditor nation in that same time span says a lot about this countries future and the future of China. This book will certainly help you find a place to put some money. I don't think anyone will be disappointed.

Jim Rogers, in my opinion, has the best insight on the current commodity bull market more than any other. His first book "Hot Commodities" called the entire last 3-4 years and is still helpful to reference for what's coming in the future. This book, although informative, is less distinctive. It's worth reading to learn the overall environment of China and Mr. Rogers outlook on certain sectors of their economy. For that matter, anything he puts out is worth reading.

The most important message of this book is to help demystify China's government policies that are driving earnings and innovation and take the intimidation factor out of the A-shares, B-shares, and ADRs of Chinese offerings. While Chinese stocks may have seen its near term tops (6,ooo for the Shanghai index), its economy is still on its way to a long term boom.

The author, while positive in China, where he has chosen to live with his family, in my opinion lacks the depth required to adequately advise investors on the myriad of developments which have an impact on Chinese securities. It is advisable to cultivate additional sources of information before embarking on an Investment Strategy for this promising market.

Well written book with some interesting views and info from a legendary investor. Have enjoyed all his books. He always has a novel approach and insight.

I am ASHAMED to say that, as a Chinese, I know sooooooo much less than Rogers!!!! Its amazing how in depth he knows about China. I am pretty sure he knows more Chinese than I do. It's also a book that motivates me to improve my Chinese, to the point where I can read the people's daily easily like he does!

I seriously recommend this book.

This is an overall good book. Most Americans fail to recognize how China has used its trade surplus to modernize its booming economy. However, what it lacks is a full presentation of how China fits into the U.S. economy. I would still recommend this book.

In addition, I would highly recommend "America's Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit from the Next Great Depression (Condensed Edition)." This is by far the best investment book written today. It discusses everything you can imagine and has predicted the stock market, oil, gold, inflation and many other things with amazing accuracy. The original edition is somewhat of a manufesto, with enormous data. I prefer the Condensed edition since it is easier to read and less expensive. America's Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit from the Next Great Depression (Condensed Edition)

May not be able to do what Jimmy does, but it's always fun to read Jimmy the Bull Rogers!

I was disappointed in this book. Having read Robyn Merideth's book on China and India and Rob Gifford's "China Road", I expected more insight from Jim Rogers. I had read his earlier book and found it useful and much more interesting. If you want a listing of the major "players" in the Chinese economy then this book is for you, but if you want anything more I don't think you'll find it.

However, it includes little information for Chinese investors, since lots of things written in the book are well known for the Chinese.

Jim Rogers separates himself from many investing and trading authors by having an experienced extraordinary amount of investment success in his funds and personal net worth.

In a Bull in China, specific recommendations are made based on several macro trends developing in china, and the needs that arise from those - such as more infrastructure, such as roads, railways, electricity, telecommunications, which accompanies a surge in demand for commodities like oil, cement, steel, and food. Rogers has spent extensive time in China, knows the political climate and knows the people. He notes that the Chinese have embraced Capitalism as much as or more than any other country in the world, having seen the effects of state controlled enterprises.

Rogers research and predictions are based upon solid statistics and math. His model is the united states, comparing the current state of China to the United States in the period following the Wild Wild West.

Rogers has put his money where his mouth is, and is so optimistic on China's prospects, he hired a Chinese nanny for his daughter, is teaching her the language, and moved his family there.

Since everyone agrees that Mr. Rogers is a brilliant investor/economist with a suberb record, I just had to scan the book. But somehow...I'm currently writing this in Shenzhen, China; and with the window opened just a crack the caustic, carcinogenic soup the Chinese call air is seeping in and causing my eyes and throat to sting, and I can barely make out the hazy outline of the building next door. I've been over a fair amount of this country and it's true: the environment is a blackened, foul disaster. Mr. Rogers is actually positive about this, and has commented that because China has the world's most polluted environment, with 16 of the world's most polluted cities, it will somehow lead to investment opportunities in clean-up industries. That may be true, but the situation is getting worse, not better, and it seems the central government is unable to enforce even existing environmental regulations. A good but dated (the situation's worse now) description on China's environment is given by Elizabeth C. Economy: http://www.amazon.com/River-Runs-Black-Environmental-Challenge/dp/0801489784/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199874330&sr=1-4

To consider: The Chinese government officially lists 8% of the population as living below the poverty line. I've lived in China for 7 years, and even in the wealthiest cities the poverty rate is much higher than that. The countryside, where somewhere around 70% of China's masses live, is much, much worse. The point is, and everyone in China will agree, is not to place too much credence in government statistics.

Where I live, the average working professional couple could never dream of purchasing a middle class home, the prices are just hopelessly out of reach.

The value of non performing loans held by China's state controlled banking sector may exceed China's total foreign reserves, and if marked to market, they'd be insolvent.

If China were forced (somehow) to actually pay the rip-off value garnered by their huge, vast (and state supported) counterfeit and pirating industry in software, entertainment, pharmeceuticals, brand names and consumer goods, their trade surplus with the world might be reduced to zero.

China doesn't have a problem with corruption, it is corruption, personifed (I've experienced it). Interesting piece from Pravda: http://english.pravda.ru/business/finance/29-11-2007/101918-corruption_china-0

Then, there's the matter of the nationalistic fanatics controlling the military, with a hair trigger on the gun sights aimed at Taiwan...

I am familiar with Jim Rogers as an investor. He has foresight in his investments and he has again here about the investments in China and looking forward into the next decades. However, the book almost seems outdated as much of the information can be found on many financial websites such as WSJ online, money, etc. The last chapters are his reviews many chinese equities, again information the reader could access in other free sources and up to date. The stock market is fluid and in flux,current- this book is not.

This book is based on the premise that China's gnp/gdp(gross national product/gross domestic product)and economic growth rate is such that ,in terms of overall gnp/gdp and economic growth,China would overtake the United States within a few years and become the world's number 1 economy, in terms of gnp/gdp and economic growth.At the end of 2007,the World Bank reevaluated its data sources and concluded that China's gdp is not in the $10-11 trillion range,as compared to the U.S.A.'s $13 Trillion,but is ,at most,$6 trillion.Second,the World Bank showed that China's middle class is much smaller than thought.The author of a Bull in China has placed a great deal of emphasis on the size ,actual and potential,of a fast growing middle class in China as one of his major reasons for advocating increased trade and investment in China's markets.His conclusions have now been demonstrated to be incorrect.The author needs to put out a revised edition of his book in the near future in which he substantially tones down his extravagant and misleading claims and recommendations,many of which were based on statistical data that has now been demonstrated to be highly inaccurate and inappropriate as a general guide to investing in China.

Very thoughtfully and coherently presented. It's always refreshing to get
insight from someone on the scene, who is living the experience and seeing things first-hand (as opposed to the ivory-tower types who, not having been in a particular locale never take the time to do more than give an off-the-cuff personal opinion). A well-written and easy to understand book by Jim Rogers.

A great look into another world that most of us don't have access to. Anyway looking for longterm growth should at least investigate this book. The guy is a genius.

One of the many complications of investing in Chinese equities is deciphering where they can be traded at the lowest cost. Not all shares have the same rights and prices. Early in the book, Jim Rogers spells all of that out for you.

In the same light style that made Investment Biker and Adventure Capitalist entertaining books, Jim Rogers tells you how China became a capitalist country again and is progressing towards becoming a greener, more innovative source of competition. Economic sector by economic sector, he describes where China was, is today, and seems to be headed. At the end of each sector, he lists the companies (and where the trade -- including the ticker symbol) while summarizing what they do and their three-year change in revenues and profits. It's a dazzling overview that you couldn't hope to match by reading a hundred magazine articles.

This book is an excellent complement to Hot Commodities where Mr. Rogers explained beautifully the commodities boom that has enriched so many who have paid attention.

I have two concerns about this book:

1. Why bring this out when Chinese stock multiples are up in the stratosphere after climbing almost 100 percent in 2007?

2. Although he strongly advises buying on dips, what's a dip for a stock that's trading at 75 times next year's projected earnings? There's no advice on this point.

Mr. Rogers is certainly very bullish on China, and he doesn't see much that could go wrong for very long. Hmmm. That story seems familiar. I usually hear it just before a market pops. Is this book a sell signal for China? He points out that you can still play China indirectly through commodities. That is certainly the safer play. Why then invest in China? It's certainly a situation I cannot monitor personally very well. And I have no idea how accurate those financial reports are. I think the book could have used a few more caveats.

Read and learn. But keep thinking before you do anything now.

Jim Rodgers new book A BULL IN CHINA is a must read for those interested in investing in China. Rodgers researches the history of the China markets and analysis the pros and cons of investing. He gives a brief synoposis of Chinese companies in many different market sectors. Rodgers does the basic research but it is up to the investor to do some extra research to make personal investment decesions. I got a wealth of knowledge reading this book.Back from the Bardo: Three Short Stories by James Cage

Jim has done it again! I cannot put this book down. This is the best book on China investing!

I am writing down the stock symbols that can be bought at NYSE, NASDAQ, OTC, and will do research on all of them. The other choice is to buy China mutual fund. That is what I did and got 80% return in 2007! For 2008, god knows.

All the websites at the back of the book are also worth investigating. Thank you Jim for providing an insightful guide for making $$$ in China. I will recommend this book for all my students in International Management studies.

A great review of what is currently happening in China, and what one can expect in the future.

Kudos to Jim Rogers for writing this book, which serves as an outstanding window into the truly avant-garde capitalist markets of China. This book will be useful to American investors in three ways:

1) It reveals the nature of publically traded Chinese companies that you never heard of--which may have no analogous forms in America for you to relate to, but which could lead to massive fortunes in the future. For example, who has heard of Jiangsu Expressway, Co., Zhejiang Expressway, Co., or Anhui Expressway, Co.? In China, the major expressways that collect tolls are publically traded! Could you imagine being an early investor in the New Jersey Turnpike? or the George Washington Bridge? or the Lincoln Tunnel?--NOT POSSIBLE IN AMERICA. These are dream companies, with near monopoly status and pricing power. And with car ownership exploding in China, these companies are surely worth investigating further.

2) The book reveals where hundreds of Chinese companies trade, and the underlying logic behind the different share classes. The differing share classes of Chinese companies was very confusing to me in the past. Now, having read this book, I feel much more confident spending my hard earned money buying these shares on various markets.

3) The book is written in a "top down" economics fashion. In a very logical progression, Jim Rogers describes various sectors of the Chinese economy likely to benefit from continued capitalist expansion (e.g. tourism, agriculture, defense)--and then lists companies in these sectors that should be fodder for additional research. Hence, the book is an excellent guide for further investigations into a capitalist system that would otherwise be too large and daunting to research easily.

GREAT JOB!

Great book, Rogers is right, China is will soon surpass the U.S as the world's largest economy and the investment potential is incredible for those who get in early. For most however, buying Chinese shares is a daunting experience. I suggest reading Peter Schiff's Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse (Lynn Sonberg Books) In additional to making a compelling case why the U.S. economy is about to collapse he also explains how to build your own portfolio of foreign stocks, including important pitfalls to avoid. It makes a great companion to "A Bull in China: and is a must read for anyone interested in actually following Jim Roger's investment ideas

Jim Rogers is one of the few guys I respect on Wall Street. A Yankee brain with an Alabama soul devoid of the usual B.S. found in the world of finance. His writing style is lucid, concise and down-to-earth. This book drives home the impact China will have on the brave new world. You can look forward to your grandchildren dating Jackie Chan look-alikes. And if the Chinese government chooses to cash in it's immense American holdings, your gonna wish you were born in a rice paddy.

My only qualm with the book is that the majority of Asian stocks mentioned within cannot be purchased in the U.S. stock exchanges. One must seek out the Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore exchanges or the Pink Sheets to purchase shares. Then, usually, these Asian shares must be purchased in predetermined bulk lots. Not an easy task (and expensive) for the regular-Joe investors out there. Hopefully in the near future, the ability to complete foreign stock transactions will become simpler and less expensive. Any brokerages listening???

Jim Rogers is one of the few guys I respect on Wall Street. A Yankee brain with an Alabama soul devoid the usual B.S. found in the world of finance. His writing style is lucid, concise and down-to-earth. This book drives home the impact China will have on the brave new world. You can look forward to your grandchildren dating Jackie Chan look-alikes.

My only qualm with the book is that the majority of Asian stocks mentioned within cannot be purchased in the U.S. stock exchanges. One must seek out the Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore exchanges or the Pink Sheets to purchase shares. Then, usually, these Asian shares must be purchased in predetermined bulk lots. Not an easy task (and expensive) for the regular-Joe investors out there. Hopefully in the near future, the ability to complete foreign stock transactions will become simpler and less expensive. Any brokerages listening???

Rogers' books are always entertaining and this one does not fail on that score. The best chapter (chapter nine) - at least in terms of longer-term trends - is very thought provoking, not only for China but for other "emerging" or "frontier" markets. It was also instructive to read Rogers' take on some of the risks of investing in China, and his reference to the work by the PRS Group and the International Country Risk Guide is appropriate. Unfortunately, he cited only the risks to China's balance sheet (which there are relatively few) and left some of the other, more significant political risks aside.

Great and interesting book --- insightful and keeps your interest. It left me wondering which of his books to read next.

I have lot of respect for Jim Rogers. He is widely respected in China and I read an article in WSJ where he was invited by an investor for a lunch at $50,000 ofcourse for his tips as well.
The book is very well written with respect to investing in China and covers almost all the segments with the strong points and weak points as of now and for the coming years. It also highlights some chinese stocks and their overall progress and annual returns. Overall a good book especially if one doesn't have insight into China. Some of the major chinese stocks for 2007 with great returns were Baidu, Ctrip, China Mobile and ofcourse the solar stocks like the first solar FSLR, Suntech power holdings STP which are on a more than healthy bull run. In the last month or so the chinese stock market Index has been into a little bit of bear market with correction of more than 20% compared to 10% correction in US market which ended in US on Dec 1. Yet the above stocks have held well. In any market whether domestic or international one needs to hold onto good fundamental and technical stocks.

Good luck to all the investors !!

I have lot of respect for Jim Rogers. He is widely respected in China and I read an article in WSJ where he was invited by an investor for a lunch at $50,000 ofcourse for his tips as well.
The book is very well written with respect to investing in China and covers almost all the segments with the strong points and weak points as of now and for the coming years. It also highlights some chinese stocks and their overall progress and annual returns. Overall a good book especially if one doesn't have insight into China. Some of the major chinese stocks for 2007 with great returns were Baidu, Ctrip, China Mobile and ofcourse the solar stocks which are on a more than healthy bull run. Good luck to all the investors !!

This book provides valuable background information about Chinese stock market. Now Chinese stock market is so hot that even a taxi driver can give a tip. Be careful. ----author of Warren Buffett and Tao Te Ching: A Modern Investor and an Age-Old Philosophy

For a book whose the back-cover screams "Indiana Jones of Investing", the author thankfully sets realistic expectations in the introduction chapter and adopts a sane tone (different from the cheerleader hysteria or end of the world tone adopted by most investing books). Rogers starts off by saying that "this is not a catalog of hot tips or even recommendations", but a "survey of happenings" in China. The reader is well served with that approach. He also re-iterates his oft stated opinion - short the dollar, long commodities, and learn Chinese!

In the first chapter, Rogers takes the reader through the different shares classes in China and some history on the evolution of the stock exchanges in that country. Chapter 2 provides his assessment of the different risks faced by China. His bias towards investing in China as opposed to India is quite apparent in a rather superficial comparison (readers wanting a more detailed comparison could benefit from a recent book - The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us). It is hard to argue that the first two chapters provide the informed reader anything substantially new, but positioning that discussion with a quasi-travelogue is very entertaining.

Throughout the book, Rogers provides a list of companies that are relevant to the trends/observations in a section (Jims Sino Files!). To me, these lists seemed like an excellent way to understand the landscape of Chinese economy (high level, but still a good picture) and to create a watch list for IPOs! An overwhelming majority of the companies in the list do not trade as ADRs - most in Hong Kong or only in China. Rogers mentions where the stock is traded if at all, and provides the 3 year trends on profits and revenues. (sadly, it doesn't have any information on operating margins). Listing the companies along with his observations on a particular topic, as opposed to burying them in an appendix is a good choice.

Chapter 2 also talks about aero-defense-industrial materials sector companies, with the section on water purification the most interesting. The third chapter focuses on household names ranging from grocers to insurance companies and also highlights the top 5 innovators. (one wonders the lead time for editing these books, because the author still has Alibaba's IPO as a planned one...any reader who has watched CNBC or reading blogs should be aware that this was a big deal a few weeks ago...). The next chapter focuses on the energy sector. Using some startling statistics (most of them are cited, so a reader has to be content with the interpretation Rogers provides) talks about coal, hydro-electricity, wind power and nuclear energy. The list of companies involved in these sectors is an excellent source for China watchers/investors. (while Rogers identifies some companies that derive indirect benefit from these trends, some omissions is intriguing - Fuel Tech (FTEK) for coal industry is one of them). Chapters 5 and 6 talk about transportation and tourism respectively - the latter providing a much better reading than the former. The next chapter on agriculture is perhaps the most unique discussion in the book. Covering a wide range of topics from seeds to fertilizers to animal husbandry to wineries, the chapter paints a very vivid picture of the agriculture sector and identifies the key players.

Rogers seems to be running out of patience when he reaches Chapter 8, where he clubs Health, Education and Housing in a single "service sector" oriented chapter. The discussion highlights some interesting trends overall, but misses the relatively more detailed context provided in previous chapters. Nevertheless, an informative chapter, despite not mentioning any of the recent darlings in the stock market - EJ Holdings (real estate) and WuXi (WX - medical research outsourcer).

Chapter 9, the most important one in the book, provides his prognosis for the different sectors/themes with a view of "possibly plunking your money in them someday"! An excellent read and worth buying the book for this chapter alone.

The reader should also search some of the investment blogs such as Seeking Alpha to read recent interviews of Rogers regarding this book and his opinion on the current investment climate in China. The author cautions that one cannot predict whether a bubble is imminent or not, but suggests to keep monitoring the landscape for potential long term investments. That sanity is welcome!

The Appendix seems to be an after-thought and not particularly useful, and there is no list of citations for the more serious reader. Another book worth keeping in the radar is From Wall Street to the Great Wall: How Investors Can Profit from China's Booming Economy.

The writing style is very conversational and easy-flowing. The part travelogue aspect of the narration sustains the interest level of the reader throughout the discussions.

All in all, for the price of a few lattes, you can get first-hand information on the landscape of Chinese economy in a wide variety of sectors, and an excellent concluding chapter that could serve as a good framework for investing in China. A must read for any serious investor.